Terry Pickering is not done yet. Songwriter, performer, radio personality, record producer and executive, Terry Polite Pickering, aka The Funky P Pookie, TpSquare, and perhaps a few other names he is affectionately known as, has an extensive career in music and radio, but just when you thought he was done, Terry is still down to what he has always done best—music and radio. “I have always done music and radio,” says the former hip hop pioneer. A transplant from Queens, NY, the Poconos East Stroudsburg PA resident spoke nostalgically about his days as a hip hop artist: “We helped put Queens MC’s on the map, venturing up to the Bronx, performing at the TConnection alongside of all the Bronx hip hop pioneers,” says Terry. “Because of contractual agreement, I will not name the artists whose musical careers I have single-handedly launched. And they became big names in the music business,” said TPSquare. Following a career as a hip-hop artist, Terry became a record producer. He teamed up with his friend and business partners Kenneth Rudd and DJ Sugar Bear in the early 90’s to create Hydra Productions in New York City. Terry was also a contributor to the late Gene Griffin’s Music empire. The venture was short-lived and Terry moved his family to the Poconos in Pennsylvania, residing in East Stroudsburg. Terry’s relocation, he says, was to find a quieter place to raise his family. He had grown up in New York City and was tired with the bustling and hustling life in the city and, especially promoting the careers of others. If you thought Terry really moved to the Poconos to enjoy a low-key lifestyle, think again, for Terry is back .
If the idiom that “old habits die hard” is a truism, then it is easy to understand why Terry continues to remain active. “I can’t just seem to give up. I love bringing people together. I want to see people work together then to work apart,” Terry noted. So here in the Poconos, Terry has been involved with many organizations and activities, one of which is Unity in the Community Project. The event is a full day of activities, which includes — playing basketball, arts and craft, Praise-dancing, Spoken Word, food, and other interactive things.
Several years ago, Terry joined friends Timothy Cherry, now deceased, Kenneth Rudd, Selena Brown, and Russell Acey to establish Gynesis Radio GynesisRadio.com, a free online radio station with world-wide reach of more than 3 million listeners per month. The studio is housed at 283 East Brown Street in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
Terry attended and graduated from Jamaica High School in Queens. He attended college down south briefly before moving back to Queens, New York.
He started a family and, seeking to raise his young family away from the hustling and bustling city life that dominated his own life while growing up in New York City, Terry relocated to Pennsylvania. He resides in East Stroudsburg with his wife. The couple has two productive adult children. Looking back, Terry says, “I am glad I moved from New York.”
